Holy Thursday - Part 1 - Chrism Mass and Visita Iglesia

What I can say about how I had my Holy Week was that it was great and blessed, though tiring since I've been going everywhere from Visita Iglesias to the procession in Marikina and spending Easter in Makati. It's been an exciting and blessed week and after a while of not posting anything, finally time to update my blog once again. :) Hopefully more adventures and posts from here on out. :)

Anyways, this post will focus on Holy Thursday. Last Holy Thursday, it's been a tradition in our family (and I'm sure many others too) to have our Visita Iglesia to other churches. The Visita Iglesia (Church Visit) is one of the most popular practices on Holy Week wherein the faithful visit 7 churches to pray the 14 stations of the cross (two in each church) and/or pray before the Blessed Sacrament if it's done on Holy Thursday night, after the time of the Last Supper. Other people though would visit 14 churches for the Visita Iglesia, I remember we did that before. But in my case though, I didn't do one Visita Iglesia, but two (yes, TWO) Visita Iglesias on Holy Thursday. Why? Because the first, I did with my dad whom I don't live with but still talk to and at times see and the other, with relatives of my mom's side, whom I live with now. This year's Holy Thursday, I went to 15 churches, and I'll tell why.

Chrism Mass: Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Cubao, Quezon City.

Cubao Cathedral, at the end of New York street in Cubao.

First, I woke up early morning to attend the Chrism Mass in our Diocese's cathedral in Cubao, which I've been going to since 2012. It was a bit stressful since I felt annoyed actually and a jeep I took to my first church kept stopping, a lot. Not a good way to start a day >_<. By the time I reached the cathedral around 6:40 AM, the prayer service began, but not the mass yet and it was already full of priests and religious. At about 7, the mass, presided by the bishop of Cubao, Most. Rev. Honesto Ongtioco, began and it was a very beautiful mass. During the mass, the hundreds of priests in attendance renewed their vows at ordination and the Chrism was blessed by Bishop Ongtioco. For those who don't know, what makes this mass special is that all the priests in a diocese attend to renew their vows and the Chrism, which are holy oils used is some of the ceremonies of the church, are blessed. After the mass, many people brought out tarpulins and signs showing support for their priests. This church was NOT part of the Visita Iglesia but it was great to go there to attend mass.

Cubao Cathedral is one of Metro Manila's prettiest churches.

After the mass, I went home and I had to wait for my dad to come. We said that we'd start at 10 AM but he came much later, sometime before 12 and when he came, we had lunch fist at Le Ching in Banawe and from there we headed to the 1st church for the Visita Iglesia.

Visita Iglesia 1st Church: Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Manila Cathedral)

Manila Cathedral, principal church of the Archdiocese of Manila

There was only one church that I wanted to go to for the Visita Iglesia this year, and that was none other than the Manila Cathedral. Last 2012, the cathedral was closed because of problems that were seen in the structure and last April 9, a week before, the cathedral was finally reopened after more than 2 years of renovation. When we came, there were a lot of people in the church and there, we started praying the Stations of the Cross. After that, I took pictures of the church. It took a while for me because the cathedral was so beautiful. Definitely worth seeing after those years it was closed.

Beautiful could be an understatement to describe this amazing structure.

The cathedral's lighting was dramatic. Really highlights the structure's elegance.

 Visita Iglesia 2nd Church: San Agustin Church

San Agustin Church, one of the oldest churches in the Philippines

Of course, since we were in Intramuros, we visited the San Agustin church, a short walk away from the Cathedral. Actually, we drove there because of the parking and to get closer. This is one of the oldest churches in the country and is the only church in Intramuros that survived World War II. For those who don't know, Intramuros alone had 7 churches within its confines and all of them (save San Agustin) didn't survive the war. The current Manila Cathedral was the only church that was rebuilt and on the same spot. If the war didn't happen or if those churches restored and had not been relocated, you could pretty much go to Intramuros to do the Visita Iglesia (unless of course you are visiting 14 churches :) ). Anyways, when we came, me and my dad prayed the 3rd and 4th stations (the stations were placed outside) and took more pictures of this church. I have to admit, probably because of the lighting, it wasn't easy to take pictures of the interior.

Like Manila Cathedral, beautiful is again an understatement here.

A building near San Agustin church. Really nice architecture.